Verde Smoke
Framingham Youth Photo Hunt Builds Networks
An MIT Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning course (that I’m auditing), entitled Media Technology and Community Building, along with progressive community members, has been meeting twice weekly with a core group of Framingham youth and community activists since April 7th, 2009. The class has been helping the youth to analyze and activate their own social networks, both through classic mechanism and using new media technologies such as websites, cell phones, and user-created audio and video. Using these newly obtained skills the youth were challenged to activate their networks, to mobilize their peers, friends, and community to participate in a game on May 9th, 2009.
The game, called Snap Shot Framingham, featured youth-generated photographs which will be used to create a website that encouraged participants to explore their expressions of Downtown Framingham. In response to prompts given by the MIT class and community members, 4 teams of 3 or 4 youth, armed with digital cameras, spread throughout the downtown area taking pictures on a clue-based treasure hunt. Afterward, the photos were judged on creativity and composition, then teams discussed the significance of being involved as actors for change in the Framingham community. Lunch was sponsored by local businesses of the FBA. The overall purpose of the game was to empower the young adults of Framingham to become actors of change in their community, creating an awareness of the social and economic concerns facing the revitalization of the downtown area, using new media as a tool.
Check out the final photos at http://framinghamgame.ning.com/.
